Americans increased their spending in September at twice the rate that their income grew, a sign of confidence in the economy. Still, consumers made up the difference by saving less for a third straight month, a troubling trend.

Shopping at Walmart is your guilty pleasure, but would you share with your Facebook friends which store in the chain is your very favorite? The world's biggest retailer hopes you will, and it's launching more than 3,500 store-specific Facebook pages to connect shoppers with what's happening in their local aisles.

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would leave interest rates unchanged -- for now. For consumers, that means a holding pattern for the near term, with little impact on borrowing, great rates for mortgages, and no hikes for credit cards. By end of summer, that may change.

Americans are earning and spending more, but a lot of the extra money is going down their gas tanks. Gas prices have drained more than half the extra cash Americans are getting this year from a cut in Social Security taxes.

A database of consumer product information and recalls sounds like a great idea -- but the feature that allows people to submit comments about unsafe products could be a nightmare for consumer products manufacturers.

As the economy improves, Americans have begun splurging again. But they're limiting their indulgences to haircuts, casual dining and coffee, while continuing to forego many bigger expenditures, like vacations and dining at expensive restaurants.